Title

Files

Subject

Spanish colonial municipalities

Description

While the first conquerors brought to the New World a love of liberty and a spirit of strong autonomy, during the sixteenth century the Spanish reduced the municipalities from their earlier importance and power subjecting them to centralized control by officers of the Crown. Previously, the Spanish townsmen had established under their fueros the equality of all the citizens before the law . (Fueros were the charters granted to villages, towns and regions by Spanish monarchs in the Middle Ages and which established their rights and obligations.) Every man had a right to participate in public affairs. He shared in the election of magistrates. The authority of the town government was based on popular election; this constituted the legitimate sanction of the officer in the exercise of his duties under the local fueros.

The guarantees of the citizen were missing in the Spanish-American municipality. There was, too, the lack of forceful union between the towns, union that had in Spain given stability and respectability to the local entities. This article discusses the conditions of and manner in which the Spanish managed the Colonial municipalities in New Spain and its territories.

Source

California Law Review, Berkeley Law Scholarship Repository

Format

PDF

Language

English

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Education | Law | Social and Behavioral Sciences